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THE AWARD 

OF 

THE WILLIAMS MEDAL 



WILLIAMS COLLEGE 
VICTORY CELEBRATION 



OCTOBER SEVENTEENTH 
1919 



FOREWORD 




T was supremely fitting that Wil- 
liams College should be the first 
American college to celebrate the 
achievements of its sons in the 
great zvar for civilisation. Founded 
by a soldier who died valiantly fighting for his 
country, Williams has always been in the front 
trenches when an enemy was to be repulsed, and 
her record in this last and greatest of wars is 
one of which she has a right to be proud; it is 
one of which her sister colleges are also proud; 
for it shows of what stuff the American college 
vian is made. 

The su)i rose on October ij, iqiq, upon a cold 
and desolate landscape, sodden from three days 
of autumnal rains; but at lo o'clock its rays 
broke through the lowering clouds, and by the 
time the processio)i was ready to move, the hills 
encircling the WUliamstown valley were resplen- 
dent in their royal raiment of gold and red. And 
then occurred a sight such as WUliamstown had 
never seen before — a sight which thrilled every 
beholder. The long academic procession, which 
had marched down the hill from the President's 
house and up the broad lawn to the steps of Grace 
Hall, opened ranks, forming a line down which 

nil 



the Chief Marshal, followed by the colors and the 
band, inarched to meet the khaki-clad heroes. To 
the stirring strains of "Onward, Christian Sol- 
diers!" the military division, preceded by Major- 
General Wood, the Governor of Massachusetts 
and the Trustees of the College, marched through 
the file of undergraduates and alumni. 

It would he difficult to convey to one who was 
not there, an idea of the deep emotional and spir- 
itual sensations which the programme of the 
day's exercises evoked. They were probably not 
due to any one event, hut were the resultant of ■ 
several causes: the classic beauty of Grace Hall, 
never before seen to such advantage; the large 
and expectant assemblage ; the presence of so 
many of the families and next-of-kin of the 
"glorious Forty-five" ; the soul-lifting music, 
beautifidly rendered by an augmented choir of 
men's voices, accompanied by the great organ 
and the brass instruments of a military band; the 
moving oration of Professor Bliss Perry; the 
exhilarating address of General Wood; and the 
generous tribute to Williams from a representa- 
tive of her friendly rival at Amherst, the Gov- 
ernor of the Commonwealth, fresh from his 
victory for law and order in Boston. But the 
most impressive thing of all was when, after the 
reading by the President of the Roll of Honor, 
there came to the ears of the hushed audience the 
sound of "taps" from a distant bugle. 

The Williams Medal was designed by James E. 
Fraser, of New York. It has been awarded by 

[4] 



the Trustees of the College to all Williams vien in 
good standing who served in the Army, Navy or 
Marine Corps of the United States, or of any of 
its allies, in the Great War, and to those who 
served overseas, in the uniform of the United 
States, and attached to any of the auxiliary ser- 
vices of the American Expeditionary Forces; and 
to the next-of-kin of the forty-five Williams men 
who died while serving their country, in any of 
those capacities. 



This book has its inspiration in the following 
letter written by Dr. Franklin Carter to the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements, a few days before his 
lamented death: 

"I am writing to say that so viemorable a meet- 
ing as that was — perhaps the most distinguished 
public performance that the college has ever 
known — ought to be preserved m a permanent 
form. All the details ought to be carefully ex- 
hibited with the fine addresses, not merely for 
those peculiarly honored then and there, but for 
the wider circle of the alumni, that all may have 
and hand down the record of that event." 



L5; 



VICTORY CELEBRATION 



Order of Exercises 

Processional — "Onward, Christian Soldiers" 

and "Adeste Fideles" Sullivan 

doring's military band 

"The Star Spangled Banner" 
Verse I 

AUDIENCE AND CHOIR 

O say can >ou see, by the dawn's early light. 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last 
gleaming. 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the 
perilous fight. 
O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly 
streaming? 
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air. 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still 
there; 
O say, does the Star-spangled Banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of ihe brave? 

Verse II 

CHOIR ALONE 

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep. 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence 
reposes, 

C7] 



What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep 
As it fitfullv blows, half conceals, half discloses? 

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam. 

In full glory reflected now shines on the stream; 
'Tis the Star-spangled Banner — O long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

Verse ill 

AUDIENCE AND CHOIR 

thus be it ever when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; 
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-res- 
cued land 
Praise the Power that hath made and preser\'ed 
us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. 
And this be our motto. "In God is our trust"; 
And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall 

wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 



Invocation 

THE REVEREND JOHN S. ZELIE, D.D., WILLIAMS, '87 

Address 

PROFESSOR BLISS PERRY, LL.D., WILLIA.MS, 'Si 

Anthem — "Te Deum Laudamus"./c»/;;z E. West 

We praise thee, God; we acknowledge thee to be 

the Lord. 
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting. 
To thee, all Angels cry aloud; the Heavens, and all 

the Powers therein. 
To thee. Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry, 
Holv, Holy, Holv, Lord God of Sabaoth; 
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory. 
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee. 
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee. 
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee. 
The holy Church throughout all the world doth 

acknowledge thee; 



The Father, of an infinite Majesty; 

Thine adorable, true, and only Son; 

Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. 

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. 

Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. 

When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou 

didst humble thyself to be born of a Virgin. 
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, 

thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all 

believers. 
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the Glory 

of the Father. 
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge. 
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou 

hast redeemed with thy precious blood. 
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, in glory 

everlasting. 
O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage. 
Govern them, and lift them up for ever. 
Day by day we magnify thee; and we worship thy 

Name ever, world without end. 
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. O Lord, let thy mercy 

be upon us, as our trust is in thee. 
Lord, in thee ha\e 1 trusted: let me never he con- 
founded. 

Address 

M.^JOR-GENERAL LEON.ARD WOOD. LL.D.. WILLIA.MS, 1002 

Roll of Honor 

PRESIDENT GARFIELD 

Presentation of Medals 

MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD, FOR THE PRESIDENT 
AND TRUSTEES 

Conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Laws 
on His Excellency the Governor of 
Massachusetts 



Address 

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
HON. CALVIN COOLIDGE 

Hymn— "God of Our 

Fathers" George William Warren 

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand 
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band 
Of shining worlds in splendor thro' the skies, 
Our grateful songs before Th\' throne arise. 

Th\' lo\e divine hath led us in the past; 
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast; 
Be Thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay. 
Thy word our law, Thy paths our chosen way. 

From war's alarms, from deadly pestilence, 
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defence; 
Thy true religion in our hearts increase, 
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace. 

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way. 
Lead us from night to never-ending day; 
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine. 
And glory, laud and praise be ever Thine. 

Daniel C. Roberts 

Benediction 

THE REVEREND JOHN S. ZELIE, D.D., WILLIAMS, '87 

"The Mountains" 
Recessional 



Cio] 







"—a 




THE WILLIAMS MHDAL 



ROLL OF HONOR 

1894 

DAVID EVERETT WHEELER 

1898 

JOSEPH WILLIAM McCONNELL 

1899 
FANCHER NICOLL 

1 90 1 
PAUL LEGGETT 

1903 
ALBERT ADAMS SERCOMB 

1905 
WILLIAM SMITH PETTIT 

1908 

lAMES BURGH MURRAY 
STANLEY WILLIS WOOD 

1910 

BELVIDERE BROOKS 

EDWARD RAYNOR FULLER 

WILHELMUS MYNDERSE RICE 

1911 
RICHARD GILDERSLEEVE 

1912 

CHARLES FRANCIS HAWKINS 
BRANTON HOLSTEIN KELLOGG 

191 3* 
MERRITT HAVILAND SMITH. Jr 

1914 

NORMAN DELAFIELD DUBOIS 

VICKTOR HEATH JONES 

♦Edmund Albro Kellogg, '13, died on January 10, 1920, from 
disease contracted in service in France. 

[■1] 



ROLL OF HONOR— Continued 

HENRY MANCHESTER LADD, Jr. 

FRANCIS ROBBINS McCOOK 

ROLAND CROSBY NICKERSON 

ROBERT PARKER STAATS. 2nd 

WILLIAM BRADFORD TURNER 

1915 

RAYMOND CURTIS BLOOM 

BARRON BRAINERD 

HAROLD FREDERICK COWPERTHWAITE 

IRA WILLARD DEMPSEY 

DANIEL SCHNECK KELLER 

lOHN COWPERTHWAITE TYLER 

ROWLAND WESTCOTT WATERBURY 

1916 

DONALD FREDERICK GEDDES 
RICHARD BURTON ROCKWOOD 

1917 

ALEXANDER THOMSON BURR 

THOMAS RIPLEY DORR 

WILLIAM BOGARDUS MERSELIS, Jr. 

WINTHROP FLOYD SMITH 

1018 

AMHERST WIGHT MEEKER 

RICHARD lAMES O'BRIEN 

FREDERICK DOBSON POLLARD 

LAMBERT ALEXANDER WOOD 

1919 

RICHARD ASHLEY BLODGETT 

MALCOLM GIFFORD, Jr. 

ALBERT CLINTON WUNDERLICH 

1920 

DONALD GUILD BISHOP 
WILLIAM HEERMANCE PRIME 

1 92 1 
HARRY ABRAM SCHECTMAN 



[12] 




BLISS PHRRV, LL.D., Si 



ADDRESS 

OF 

BLISS PERRY, LL.D., 'Si 

Mr. President, Guests of the College, Sons of 
Williams: 

THIS is a day of pride, — pride in the living, 
pride in tlie sacred dead. We lift our hearts, 
for this hour at least, above the ache of private 
sorrow, above war-weariness, above disillusion, 
above the clamor of voices counselling selfishness 
and fear. We lift them to the high, clear places, 
— higher e\en than these circling hills, cleaner 
even than this mountain air, — where Honor 
dwells, and Duty, and where Service and Sacrifice 
seem no longer dark mysteries, but stand sunlit 
and glorious. 

We meet as Williams men, to give honor to 
other men of Williams, luckier than we were, — 
who served in the Army and Navy and Marine 
Corps of the United States or of her Allies in the 
Great War. It is college loyalty, primarily, which 
has prompted this celebration: and college loy- 
alty, like all vital things, escapes logical analysis 
and definition. No one has ever defined the Yale 
spirit, the Princeton spirit, the Harvard spirit, in 
such a way as to make it recognizable outside of 
that particular family. And I shall not attempt 



to describe the Williams spirit, even for the ben- 
efit of our guests. As indix'iduals, we represent, 
like all groups of college-trained men, every con- 
ceivable variety of political and social opinion. 
We are conservatives or liberals. Bourbons or 
radicals, as the result of inheritance, circum- 
stance, and experience with the confused epoch 
in which we are living. The bonds that hold us 
together often seem slight enough : the conscious- 
ness of a common discipline, a few common 
memories, and the debtor's vague sense of owing 
something to our Alma Mater. Divided inevi- 
tably as we are in so many things, we confess that 
we share certain prejudices,— a prejudice, for in- 
stance, in favor of law and order, whether it be in 
the Balkans or in Boston. And we are absolutely 
one in the sentiment that brings us here to-day. 
That sentiment is Williams loyalty to the United 
States as it entered the World War and emerged 
from it triumphant. 

Why was it, many college men have asked, that 
Williams made such an extraordinary record in 
that struggle? Was it the example of her soldier 
founder? Was it the influence of the place it- 
self? Or was it the character of the training here 
received, a training which in the twentieth cen- 
tury has laid its chief emphasis upon citizenship? 

No one can answer adequately. Perhaps it 
was all three of these influences, each reinforcing 
the others. Let me illustrate. The medals to be 
awarded to-day bear upon one side the Founder's 
name. I remember how, as a small boy, and 
afterward as an undergraduate, I used to de- 

['4] 



cipher the words upon the memorial tablet which 
hung then in a dark corner of the "Old Chapel," 
but which is now restored to its original position 
in Griffin Flail: "To the memory of the gallant 
and generous Col. Ephraim Williams." All of 
our antiquarian research into the life and char- 
acter of the Founder adds but little to those fine 
words chosen to describe him in 1828: "gallant 
and generous." And on the obverse of the medal 
are the figures of the charging troops, and the 
legend: "For Humanity," igiS. 

Now, see how closely the past and the present 
touch hands. Ephraim Williams, a competent 
but unlucky ofiicer, haunted with premonitions 
of failure and death, falls at the first volley of 
an inconclusive engagement, in that dark sum- 
mer that had just witnessed the defeat of Brad- 
dock. He was a Colonial Englishman, fighting 
for King George the Second, a German prince 
who spoke poorer English than was used by the 
farmers on these Massachusetts hills. Colonel 
Williams comprehended imperfectly — and indeed 
no one could foresee in 1755 — the full significance 
of that frontier struggle between the rival em- 
pires of France and England for the control of 
this continent. We cannot even know whether — 
had his life been spared for another score of years 
— he would have remained a Loyalist, like so 
many of his intimate friends, or, like others of 
his comrades, and as we surely prefer to fancy, 
he would have taken the Rebel side. All that 
we surely know is this — and it is enough — that 
he made a far-seeing will at Albany and died a 

L'53 



brave death at Lake George, and that his name 
has become, to all of us who are children of the 
college, a symbol for service — service to one's 
country, service to humanity. He died a child- 
less man. How little could he have imagined 
that after a few brief generations the sons of 
France, then his mortal enemy, and the sons of 
England — to him the Mother Land — would be 
fighting side by side in Europe, backed by 
2,000,000 American soldiers, and that on all that 
battle-front no boys would make a finer show- 
ing than his "dream-children," the sons he never 
saw — but yet the true sons of Ephraim Williams ! 
That war, like every tragedy, was a test of 
character already formed. Men are not made 
over by earthquake and pestilence, they are sud- 
denly revealed for what they are. No one who 
knew American college students doubted their 
courage or their patriotism. But aside from the 
men undergoing regular athletic training, the 
physical condition of undergraduates and recent 
graduates often seemed far from "fit," and their 
ability to give close and continuous mental ap- 
plication to uncongenial tasks was sometimes 
doubted by their instructors. But when the 
hour for action came, the American college-bred 
man showed his real quality. The slouch of 
body and mind was chiefly a bit of boyish afi'ec- 
tation. Study the tables of rejection for phys- 
ical disability throughout the country, and com- 
pare them with the percentages of college men 
accepted for military service. The college phy- 
sique had not grown "soft." That was a myth. 

[■6] 



The college-bred mind had not become imprac- 
tical and ineflicient. That was another myth. 
Almost precisely half of the 200,000 officers re- 
ceiving commissions in the war — and more than 
two-thirds of the line officers — were schooled in 
officers' training camps, made up largely from 
college men. We are proud of the high percent- 
age of commissions won by Williams College in 
these camps. Of the 385 Williams men who 
were trained there previous to the establishment 
of the S. A. T. C, 85% received commissions. 
But we are proud for the very reason that they 
were holding their own, and rather more than 
their own, in splendid company. Among the 
many unexpected lessons taught by the war, one 
of the most exhilarating is this vindication of the 
American college as a school for citizenship in 
the republic, for giving youth, as Milton desired 
long ago, "a complete and generous education, 
that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully 
and magnanimously all the ofiices, both private 
and public, of peace and war." 

You will not expect me then, even in the in- 
timacy of this family gathering, to claim that 
Williams men displayed in the Great War any 
peculiar type of heroism, any private brand of 
devotion to the nation. Heroism and devotion, 
thank God, were common as the air. They were 
not the property of the educated classes only. If 
there is anything more unlovely than the man 
who says, "1 am holier than thou," it is the man 
or the group that proclaims, "I am more patriotic 
than thou, and I have the figures to prove it." 

['7] 



No, gentlemen, there is glory enough to go 
around, and if we count up to-day some measure 
of our own share of it, it is with the full knowl- 
edge that other colleges have likewise their 
treasures of proud memory. The more they 
have, the better for us all. Yet while they are 
counting their roll of children who were ready for 
the call of duty, we will count ours, too. The 
formal and complete history of Williams in the 
war is now in preparation. Many of the data 
for that history have already been laid before 
you in the serial issues of "Ephraim Williams: a 
Soldier," and in the printed reports of President 
Garfield and of Acting President Wild. It will 
be sufficient if I remind you of a few outstand- 
ing facts. 

The acts of war by Germany against the 
United States were formally recognized as such 
by the two houses of Congress on April 4 and 
6, 19 17. President Garfield instantly offered 
to the Government our grounds, buildings, and 
equipment for use as a training camp, should the 
military authorities desire it. The Williams unit 
of the R. O. T. C. had already been established in 
March. Many of our students, in fact, had at- 
tended the Plattsburg training camps in 1916, 
and some had enlisted in the armies of the Allies. 
Throughout May and June, 19 17, undergraduates 
streamed away from college into the service of the 
American army and na\y. But a large body of 
them, mostly under what was then considered the 
military age, continued their training in the sum- 
mer camp, under the efficient direction of Major 

D8 3 



Pew and his associates. Then came the college 
year of 191 7-18, with its ever increasing em- 
phasis upon drill ; then the second summer camp ; 
then the great nation-wide experiment with the 
S. A. T. C, an experiment which worked better 
at Williams than it did in most colleges, thanks 
to a unique location, a homogeneous student- 
body, a devoted and resourceful teaching force, 
and an excellent commanding officer. 

But by the summer of 1918 a majority of 
Williams men of military age were already in the 
army and na\y. Here are the figures. Previous 
to the armistice we counted about 2,912 living 
graduates, about 996 living non-graduates, and 
some 61 1 undergraduates who were over eighteen 
years of age. In addition about 40 Williams 
men had up to that time given their lives in the 
service of their country. Of this total of about 
4.529 Williams men, over 1,700, or 37^2%, were 
in the military service of the United States or one 
of its Allies. You will observe that these figures 
do not indicate the several hundred men who 
were ser\ing with the Red Cross, the V. M. C. A., 
and other auxiliary services — though there are 
Red Cross men upon this platform this morning 
who showed as much heroism as any soldiers 
in the line, if you deduct from the living alumni 
the men graduated before iood, that is, the men 
40 years old and upward, the proportion of men 
in the service rises to 60' ,' . The record of the 
classes between 19 10 and 19 17 is almost 80 ""o, 
and the class of 19 17, graduating 103 men, had 
1 01, I am informed, in actual military service. 

[>93 



Such is one part of the record of our Alma 
Mater. We believe it to be unmatched by that 
of any other college. There are indeed some 
technical schools, specializing in military train- 
ing, whose records of enlistment may ultimately 
be found to challenge comparison with ours. 
When all the American records are made up, 
upon a uniform statistical basis, if any col- 
lege shall be found to surpass Williams, the sons 
of the gallant and generous Colonel will be the 
first to ofl'er a salute. 

But, gentlemen, the spirit of patriotism tran- 
scends all petty statistical rivalry. We must not 
juggle with the arithmetic of Heaven. Math- 
ematical computations of sacrifice have been dis- 
counted ever since the day when a certain poor 
widow cast more into the treasury than many 
rich men, because she gave all she had. Forty- 
five of our Williams brethren gave all; the men 
before us to-day offered all; and behind them 
stand a great company, undecorated and per- 
haps unknown, who did what they could. The 
list of decorations and citations is indeed a long 
one. Nearly fifty Williams men received the 
Croix de Guerre, ten the Distinguished Service 
Cross of the United States, two the Congressional 
Medal of Honor, and one the Legion of Honor of 
France. I pass over the acts of individual 
heroism, for they will be told and retold as long 
as Williams men gather. But I know that if the 
decorated men before me were speaking, they 
would be the first to remind you, with the mag- 
nanimity of youth, that not all of the Williams 



men had the same chance. When a mother wel- 
comes home her sons, she does not ask whether 
they are distinguished or undistinguished, suc- 
cessful or unsuccessful. They are her boys, and 
she takes them ail to her impartial heart. 1 am 
thinking of many a private who might have 
made a good officer, of many a young lieutenant 
and captain at Camp Devens whose over-seas 
assignment never came. But the Alma Mater 
says of such men, with tender pride: 

"He was likely, had he been put on, 
To have proved most royally." 

Hundreds of our civilian alumni, likewise, 
spent themselves without limit in the various 
activities essential to the conduct of the war. 
We were told that for every man in the front-line 
trenches there were needed from 20 to 30 men 
organized for that one man's support. The 
spear-head that thrust at St. Mihiel and through 
the Argonne needed a long shaft, and the shaft 
was held steady at home. In that superb display 
of energy and resourcefulness which character- 
ized our national effort, the brains and heart and 
training of Williams civilians told. Many of 
them worked without much publicity — on draft 
boards, Liberty Loan committees, and in the di- 
rection of industries essential to the war. Some 
of them were called to high station, to perform 
difficult and unpopular tasks, and to face that 
black storm of criticism which hovers clamor- 
ously in every war behind the men who act — as 



carrion birds hover over a battle-field. Yet if 
there were here and there a slacker — I do not say 
that there were such among Williams men — a 
slacker who wasted his strength in detraction of 
the government and criticism of the army and 
navy, while better men than he were toiling and 
dying for the common cause, let us leave him 
for to-day alone with his conscience. For our 
thoughts march forward this morning in step 
with Victory. 

The Williams Medal eternalizes in bronze a 
clear, proud vision of what was concretely done 
in the World War. Let us not tarnish it to-day 
and here by any breath of cynicism and pessi- 
mism. History tells us that cynicism and pessi- 
mism follow in the wake of every great conflict, 
as the inevitable human reaction from the strain. 
It was true of Europe after 1815, of the United 
States after 1865. The high tide of idealism 
ebbs; generosity of mind becomes rarer than gal- 
lantry; men forget those words, "For humanity," 
that are stamped upon this bronze. No Williams 
man who has earned that medal will join the 
selfish and un-American disparagement of stanch 
England and glorious France. Leave that to the 
sordid politicians who hope to buy votes with it. 
if Europe is still to be saved from collapse, 
France and Great Britain and the United States 
must continue to hold together. The supreme 
achievement of the men whom we are honoring 
is that they fought with our Allies to kill a 
hideous conception of human society, a theory of 
the State which ran counter to the best instincts 

L22J 



of human nature. Men are divided at tliis hour, 
not so much into black and white, rich and 
poor, educated and uneducated, as into those 
who perceive, and those who fail to perceive, that 
a new mode of thinking has taken possession 
of the forward-looking minds of Europe and 
America. The foes of civilization are they who 
would put the selfish interest of a single nation 
or imperial group of nations above the interests 
of humanity as a whole. The epitome and sym- 
bol of that theory was Prussia, dominating as she 
did the Central Empires, and you and 1 have seen 
the old Prussia go down e\en as Assyria and 
Babylon. And the men who are here to receive 
our poor expression of praise and affection helped 
France and England to strike her down, and to 
clear the roadway of human society for a better 
future. 

A new world, gentlemen of the Alumni, is 
slowly and painfully arising out of the old. The 
day will come when Americans will look back 
to the Veterans of the World War, to the civilians 
who did their full duty in that conflict, and to 
the President, an adopted son of Williams, upon 
whose shoulders rested the terrific, the crushing 
burdens of a commander-in-chief, as we now look 
back to Washington, Hamilton, iMadison and 
their associates who secured our independence 
and wrought the framework of our Federal gov- 
ernment. The bitter animosities of that Revo- 
lutionary period survive solely for the amuse- 
ment of antiquarians. The big things grow big- 
ger and the small things grow smaller, as the 

C23n 



years go by. Out of the tragedy of the World 
War — the most appaUing tragedy our planet has 
ever known — has come a realization of the 
solidarity of human society, and the necessity 
of closer organization if any civilization what- 
ever is to endure. 

But you and I believe that it will endure. That 
is why this medal is cast in bronze. We refuse 
to be caught in the back-wash of any ebbing tide. 
We refuse to admit that the lamp of idealism is 
going out. We should be recreant sons of the 
Founder if we had no faith in the future. We 
have that faith. It is lighted up this morning 
with the glow of Victory. Yet we believe that 
our children and grandchildren, coming back to 
these hills, and knowing what record Williams 
College made in the World War, will perceive 
even better than we that these friends of ours 
were the safeguarders and builders of civiliza- 
tion. And it is our gracious privilege this morn- 
ing to look into the eyes of these fellow alumni, 
and join with all the generations of the future in 
their praise. Honor to them now, and honor be 
theirs forevermore! 



[24] 




MAjOK-GHNLkAL LEONARD WOOD 



ADDRESS 

OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD 

President Garfield, Fellow Williams Men, Ladies 
and Gentlemen: 

I FEEL very much honored to have been asked 
to come here to-day to give to the men of 
Williams College who have had service in war, 
the war medals which the college has awarded. 
The record of American colleges in the World 
War is a proud one. The university men have 
rendered splendid and efficient service in every 
field of activity — at home and over-sea, ashore 
and afloat. You men, who have represented 
Williams College in the war, have discharged 
your duties in such a way as to reflect great 
credit not only upon yourselves, but upon the 
college, and every Williams man is proud of the 
work you have done. The spirit of the college 
has been that of service and sacrifice, and you 
have worthily represented this spirit and lived 
up to our best military traditions. In honoring 
you, the college honors all who have served the 
country in the great world crisis which has just 
passed. You have done your duty in the war, 
and have done it well. Now with the coming 



problems of peace, we must have the same co- 
operation, the same standing shoulder to shoulder 
of all classes, the same common purpose. During 
the war it was victory over the enemy that we 
strove for; now it must be a rapid readjustment 
of conditions resulting from the war, the build- 
ing up of business, the re-establishment of com- 
merce and trade, and the prompt, effective and 
earnest discharge of those civic duties which are 
incumbent upon all good Americans. 

We must avoid loose-fibered internationalism 
as we would avoid death. We must keep our feet 
on the ground, our ideals high, and our eyes on 
God, and hold on to the policies and traditions 
which have made us what we are; build up a 
strong American spirit, and behind it the right 
kind of an American conscience. 

Problems have sprung up in this State, ugly 
problems, and thank Heaven we have had a man 
who was not afraid to meet them — a governor 
who did not stop to count presumptive votes be- 
fore acting. 

We have labor problems, and the only way to 
solve them is by the Golden Rule, "Do unto 
others as we would be done by." Treat labor 
fairly and deal with these problems through pub- 
licity which will form public opinion and pa\e 
the way to the election of men who can deal with 
these problems. 

Although we must do what we can for Europe, 
we must also take notice of things at home. Sup- 
port law and order. Liberty, yes, but liberty 
within the law, never outside. There is room 

1:263 



for only one tlag in this country, and that is the 
flag which our boys followed into battle. There 
is no room for the red flag. Kill it as you would 
a rattlesnake. And we want but one language in 
our country, the language of the Constitution. 
English should be taught, and English only should 
be spoken in the grades below high school. That 
is the only way to make these people who have 
come to us from other countries, truly American 
and a part of us. 

And so 1 place before you these points: Stead- 
iness, law and order, the support of the Consti- 
tution, the cultivation of the American spirit and 
the demonstration before the world that America 
has the conscience which will always make her 
act aright. 

As a soldier, 1 am glad to be here and greet you, 
for most of you have been in the military service 
of the Nation, ^'ou are now returning to civil 
life. You typify the soldier of the Republic who 
makes up the bulk of our armies — the citizen in 
arms; the men who, in a great crisis, form the 
loyal army of the Republic. The Nation will 
look to you for advice and counsel as to our 
military policv. Remember the things you have 
gone through; the difficulties of your training; 
\isualize what would have happened had it not 
been for the protection and assistance of the 
Allies during that period in which we were 
almost wholly without preparation. 

"^'ou must stand for Law and Order; the rights 
of property; for government under the Consti- 
tution; no class legislation; no autocracy of 



wealth nor of labor, but a real democracy of both, 
characterized by the spirit of co-operation and 
helpfulness. 

We must do all we can to keep up friendly re- 
lations with the Allies, beside whom we fought 
the Great War. He who strives to destroy this 
feeling is one who betrays the dead, and, in a 
measure, the cause they fought for, and tends 
to make their sacrifice unavailing. We must 
work for Americanization; for one flag, one lan- 
guage and one loyalty, and that an undivided 
loyalty to the American people; for America first. 

You are an honor to your country and to your 
college. Good luck to you through all the years 
to come ! 



C2S] 




CALX'IX COOLIDGE, LL.D^ 
Gu\ crnor of Massachusetts 



CONFERRING DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF LAWS 
UPON GOVERNOR COOLIDGE 

President Garfield: 

I present for the honorary degree of Doctor 
of Laws, the Governor of the Commonwealth. 
By profession a lawyer; by preference a student 
of the science of government; a statesman prac- 
ticed in the art of governing, elected to many of- 
fices of trust and honor, in city, county and the 
commonwealth; in each performing services of 
high order, but none of greater value to the Re- 
public than in making clear and preserving the 
distinction between public duty and private right. 

His Excellency the Governor of the Common- 
wealth was then invested with the hood of the 
Degree of Doctor of Laws, by Professors Weston 
and Johnson, after which he spoke as follows: 

ADDRESS 

OF 

GOVERNOR COOLIDGE 

THERE speaks here with the voice of immor- 
tality one who loved Massachusetts. On 
every side arise monuments to that enduring 
affection bred not of benefits received but of 
services rendered, of sacrifices made, that the 



Province of Massachusetts Bay might live en- 
lightened and secure. A bit of parchment has 
tilled libraries. A few hundred dollars has en- 
riched generations. The spirit of a single liberty- 
loving soldier has raised up a host that has 
shaken the earth with its martial tread laying low 
the hills but exalting the valleys. Here Colonel 
Ephraim Williams still executes his will, still dis- 
poses of his patrimony, still leads the soldiers of 
the free to an enduring victory, and with a power 
greater than the sword stands guard on the 
frontier marches of the Commonwealth. 

Honor compels that honor be recognized. In 
compliance with that requirement this day has 
been set apart by this institution of letters in tes- 
timony of the merit of her sons. Nearly one-half 
of her living alumni were under the direct service 
of the nation in the Great War. Into all branches 
of the service, civil and military, they went 
from the alumni, from the classrooms, from the 
Faculty, up to President Garfield himself who 
served as the director of the Fuel Administration. 
From America and her Allies has come the 
highest of recognition, conferred by citation, 
awards and decorations. Their individual deeds 
of valor I shall not relate. They are known to 
all. Advisedly I say that they have not been sur- 
passed among men. Their heroism was no less 
heroic because it was unconscious there or be- 
cause of befitting modesty it is unostentatious 
here. There was yet a courage unequalled by the 
most momentous dangers, which were met by 
those now marked with fame and a capacity in 

C30J 



the others which would have matched equal 
events with equal fortitude, in the most grate- 
ful recognition of all this, to the living and the 
dead, by their Alma Mater the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts reverently joins. 

But this day, if it is truly to represent the spirit 
of this college, means more than a glorification 
of the past. It was by a stern determination to 
discharge the duties of the present that Ephraini 
Williams pruxided for a future filled with a glory 
that must not yet be termed complete. His 
thoughts were not on himself nor on material 
things. Had he chosen to inscribe his name upon 
a monument of granite or of bronze it would have 
gone the way of all the earth. Enlightening the 
soul of his fellow man, he made his mark which 
all eternity cannot erase. A soldier, he did not 
"put his trust in reeking tube and iron shard" 
to save his countrymen, but like Solomon chose 
first knowledge and wisdom, and to his choice has 
likewise been added a splendor of material 
prosperity. 

Earth's great lesson is written here. In it all 
men may read the interpretation of the Founder 
of this college, of the meaning of America, of 
the moti\e high and true which has inspired her 
soldiers. Not unmindful of a desire for economic 
justice hut scorning sordid gain, not seekmg the 
spoils of war but a victory of righteousness, they 
came, subordinating the finite to the inliniLc. 
placing their trust in that which does not pass 
awa\'. This precept heretofore obserx'ed must not 
be abandoned now. A desire for the earth and 



the fullness thereof must not lure our people 
from their truer selves. Those who seek for a 
sign merely in a greatly increased material pros- 
perity, however worthy that may be, disap- 
pointed through all the ages, will be disappointed 
now. Men find their true satisfaction in some- 
thing higher, finer, nobler than all that. We 
sought no spoils from war; let us seek no spoil 
from peace. Let us remember Babylon and 
Carthage and that city which her people, flushed 
with purple pride, dared call Eternal. 

This college and her sons have turned their 
eyes resolutely toward the morning. Above the 
roar of reeking strife they hear the voice of the 
Founder. Their actions have matched their 
vision. They have seen. They have heard. They 
have done. I thank you for receiving me into 
their company, so romantic, so glorious, and for 
enrolling me as a soldier in the Legion of Colonel 
Ephraim Williams. 



n32] 



[From the Harvard Alumni Bulletin. November, igig] 
AS SEEN BY HARVARD 

TWO weeks ago Williams College celebrated 
its "Victory Day," in honor of the sons of 
the college who had taken part in the war. At 
the hands of General Leonard Wood, one of the 
speakers on this occasion, himself an honorary 
alumnus of Williams, the trustees of the college 
presented to several hundred participants in the 
war, and to fathers, wives, and other representa- 
tives of the score of those who had given their 
lives, a medal commemorating their association 
with Williams and the great cause. To the large 
number of those unable to attend the celebration 
in person, medals were to be duly forwarded. 
Fitting music, and supremely fitting words from 
Professor Bliss Perry and Governor Coolidge, 
brought home to the large gathering in the chief 
assembly hall of the college, so beautifully set 
amidst the surrounding hills, the full meaning of 
the day. 

There was no boasting that Williams had sur- 
passed its sister colleges of America in its con- 
tribution to the war, notable as that contribution 
was. The dignity and solemn beaut)' of the cele- 
bration, perhaps the first of its kind in an Amer- 
ican college, seemed therefore to extend the circle 
of celebrants so that it could include the sons of 

1:33] 



many an Alma Mater. Much that was said and 
suggested with regard to the war service of 
Williams men, and to the continuing struggle to- 
wards righteousness which confronts us all, might 
have been addressed with equal appositeness to 
almost any academic audience in America. 

[From ibe Boston Transcript. October ij, ig2o] 
THE GOVERNOR AT WILLIAMS 

THE first acclaim of victory may have died 
away, but strong echoes still come from it. 
Meaningful and clear they were heard to-day in 
the Berkshires as Williams College held its 
special exercises of celebration and commemo- 
ration. A report of them will be found on another 
page of this issue and it will be seen to include 
the full text of the speech made by His Excel- 
lency Calvin Coolidge, Governor of the Com- 
monwealth, who went to Williamstown to-day to 
share in the celebration and to receive at the 
hands of the college its highest honor, the de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws. The address of the 
Governor should be read for its every word, \et 
the heart of it is best revealed by his all but con- 
cluding paragraph: 

•"Earth's great lesson is written here. In it all 
men may read the interpretation of the Founder 
of this college, of the meaning of America, of the 
motive high and true which has inspired her 
soldiers. Not unmindful of a desire for economic 
justice but scorning sordid gain, not seeking the 

1:34: 



spoils of war but a \ictury of righteousness, they 
came, subordinating the finite to the infinite, 
placing their trust in that which does not pass 
away. This precept heretofore observed must 
not be abandoned now. A desire for the earth 
and the fullness thereof must not lure our people 
from their truer selves. Those who seek for a 
sign merely in a greatly increased material pros- 
perity, however worthy that may be, disap- 
pointed through all the ages, will be disappointed 
now. Men find their true satisfaction in some- 
thing higher, finer, nobler than all that. We 
sought no spoils from war; let us seek no spoil 
from peace. Let us remember Babylon and 
Carthage and that city which her people, flushed 
with purple pride, dared call Eternal." 

Never, we believe, has greater service been 
done by one college to another than Governor 
Coolidge, graduate of Amherst, has here done 
for Williams, voicing the spirit of Williams in a 
way which must make every Williams man stir 
with a grateful pride. As the Governor advances 
to the larger applications of his theme, seldom, 
as we belie\e, has the true gospel of .Americanism 
been better expressed as it is written in histor}', 
and ne\er a message brought, and a challenge 
uttered, more pertinent and more needful to the 
immediate times in which .America lives at 
this dav. 



1:33: 



[From the Richmond (Va.) Journal. October ij, igig] 



DUTY AND SERVICE OF 
COLLEGE MEN 

THROUGH misty eyes one reads of the gal- 
lantry of the young heroes whose next of kin 
will receive for them the "Williams Medal," 
which Williams College will award at the Vic- 
tory celebration next Friday, October 17. There 
were 1,726 Williams men enrolled in the military 
organization of the United States, and of the com- 
plement forty-four made the great sacrifice. 
Major General Leonard Wood will make the 
presentation address — he received the honorary 
degree of LL.D. from Williams in 1902 — and 
Professor Bliss Perry, LL.D., of the class of '81, 
now professor of English literature at Harvard 
University, will deliver the oration. Probably, 
best known of all who represented Williams Col- 
lege on the battlefields of France is Lieutenant- 
Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey, the leader of the 
"Lost Battalion," upon whom congress bestowed 
the congressional medal of honor. Colonel 
Whittlesey was a member of the class of 1905, 
and was known as a modest and unassuming 
student. But it was Lieutenant Bradford Turner, 
of the class of 19 14, for three years on the foot- 
ball team, the story of whose prowess causes the 
blood to tingle and the eyes to smart. He was 
killed when leading his company in an attack 
against the Hindenburg line, September 29, 1918. 
In announcing the posthumous award of the 

[36: 



Medal of Honor, Major-General O'Ryan, of the 
Twenty-seventh Division, said: 

"Single-handed, he rushed an enemy machine 
gun, which had suddenly opened fire on his group, 
and killed the crew with his pistol. He then 
pressed forward to another machine gun post 
twenty-five yards away, and had killed one gun- 
ner himself by the time the remainder of the de- 
tachment arrived and put the gun out of action. 
With the utmost bravery he continued to lead 
his men over three lines of hostile trenches, clean- 
ing up each one as they advanced, regardless of 
the fact that he had been wounded three times, 
and killed several of the enemy in hand-to-hand 
encounters. After his pistol ammunition was ex- 
hausted this gallant officer seized the rifie of a 
dead soldier, bayoneted several members of a 
machine gun crew and shot the others. Upon 
reaching the fourth line trench, which was his 
objective. Lieutenant Turner captured it with 
the nine men remaining in his group and resisted 
a hostile counter-attack until he was finally sur- 
rounded by the enemy and killed." 

This is only one of many valorous deeds by 
Williams men for which splendid action the 
croix de guerre and the distinguished service 
medal were given. Both in the army and the 
navy Williams men upheld the tradition of their 
alma mater in glorious fashion, so that more 
than forty-five men received the croix de guerre, 
ten the distinguished service cross of the United 

[37 3 



States, two the congressional medal of honor and 
one the legion of honor of France. Before such 
signal deeds of bravery as are recorded of Wil- 
liams men and men of other American colleges, 
one humbly bows one's head and thanks God he 
is an American. What is true of Williams men is 
true to a like degree of the splendid fellows, rep- 
resenting all our higher institutions of learning, 
who fought in France. Contemplating such ma- 
terial, who can have any fear of the country's 
future? Reading of the remarkable deeds per- 
formed by the college men in the great war, we 
are reminded of the inspiring address of Presi- 
dent John Grier Hibben, of Princeton, at the 
opening of the university's one hundred and 
seventy-third year, whose keynote was duty and 
service. It was the lessons learned from the war 
that gave him his topic and he expatiated on the 
duties that the college men must assume. Said 
Dr. Hibben: "The world expects the college 
graduate in these times of peace to prove himself 
in spirit and readiness for service equal to his 
brave comrade who responded to the call to arms 
in the days of the great war. We dare not disap- 
point this expectation. It is more than expecta- 
tion. It is an inexorable demand." 



[38] 



COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS 

Elbridge L. Adams, '87, Chainiian 
Hhnrv \V. Banks, Jr., '83 

John B. Carse, '86 

James A. Garfield, '85 

William M. Rutter. '00 

RoMNEY Spring, '04 

Charles W. Whittlese")-, '05 

Frederick T. Wood, 'i)8 

CHIEF marshal 

Dean Carroll Lewis iMaxcy, '87 

aides; 

Lt.-Col. Charles W. Whittlesey, '05 

Lt.-Col. W. H. Curtis, '06 

Maj. Royal E. T. Riggs. '02 

Lieut. R. M. Becket. '20 

Lielt. F. H. Jones, '20 

Lieut. H. AT Ouigle">-. '20 



[39] 



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